The present invention relates to an agricultural machine of the type having a frame on which tool rotors are mounted on upright shafts in a row extending across the direction in which the machine travels, with the rotors driven by a horizontal driveshaft that is segmented and interlocked by couplings, with each segment of the driveshaft a component of one of the angular gears that drive the tool rotors, and with the horizontal driveshaft coupled, through a coupling device that is inside the housing of a main train mounted on the frame, with the output gearwheel of the main train and hence driven by it.
An agricultural machine of this type is known from German Utility Model No. 8 114 520. The tool rotors of the machine are driven by angular gears with driveshafts that can be individually installed and that are coupled together. One end of the driveshaft of each angular gear, adjacent to the main train, is splined and fits into matching splines in the output gearwheel which drives it.
One advantage of this machine is that the couplings between the angular-gear driveshafts are designed so that the angular gears can be separatedly dismounted for repair, with only the gear that needs to be repaired having to be removed. It is also easy to dismount the main train by removing the two angular gears immediately adjacent to it.
However, there is also a disadvantage to the machine. The coupling device is subject to extremely high wear because the driveshafts of the angular gears adjacent to the main train are not aligned precisely enough in the coupling device of the main-train output gear. This leads to rapid breakdown of the coupling. This type of wear, which is also called fretting corrosion, will lead to especially rapid breakdown when powerful forces have to be transmitted and the coupling device is not airtight. Another agricultural machine with a frame on which tool rotors are mounted on upright shafts in a row extending across the direction in which the machine travels and are driven through individual angular gears by a main train is known from German OS No. 2 538 306. Between the main train and the rotor drive mechanisms immediately adjacent to it, this machine has guide elements for aligning the central axis of the driveshaft components with the center line of the main-train output gear.
One disadvantage of this second machine is that the gearwheels are connected to the continuous driveshaft in such a way that only very weak forces can be transmitted. Another disadvantage is that the multiple mounting and unavoidable manufacturing tolerances of the continuous driveshaft expose it to extremely powerful bending stresses in operation. Furthermore, the continuous driveshaft and all the gearwheels mounted on it must be dismounted when the drive mechanism has to be repaired or individual bearings or gearwheels replaced. Since almost the whole machine must be more or less disassembled to do this, it involves an excessive amount of labor.